TV Ratings: Jesse Watters is Number One in Primetime Cable News

During the week of October 7th - October 13th, FOX News Channel (FNC) led all of cable news with primetime and total day viewers powered by the network’s breaking news coverage of Hurricane Milton making landfall in Florida. FNC continued to lead cable news combined throughout primetime and total day, earning 2.5 million viewers and 301,000 in the 25-54 demo from 8-11PM/ET. 

In total day (6AM-6AM/ET), marking 40 consecutive weeks of dominance, FNC posted 1.6 million viewers and 201,000 in the 25-54 demo. FNC also saw double-digit gains year-over-year among total viewers for primetime.

The extreme weather event that was Hurricane Milton could not match the draw of a vice presidential debate. Unlike the morning and evening news broadcasts, the three major cable networks all experienced week-to-week declines in total viewers and the Adults 25-54 demo during primetime.

The situation was not that much better during total day the trio once again saw drops in total viewers. In a lone bright spot, CNN was the only network to see a viewership uptick in the advertiser-coveted total day demo. 

Among all basic cable networks, Fox News fell behind ESPN to land in the No. 2 spot in total primetime viewers, and registered at fourth place in the primetime demo. In total day, it continued to lead in total viewers and placed second in the demo.

MSNBC’s primetime lineup averaged 1.241 million total viewers and 130,000 viewers in the A25-54 demo. That translates to week-to-week drops of -29% and -42%, respectively.

During total day, MSNBC averaged 874,000 total viewers and 94,000 A25-54 viewers. It was down a respective -12% and -14% compared to the week before.

Among all basic cable networks, MSNBC slipped one spot to land in fourth place in total primetime viewers and dropped from eighth to 10th in the demo. During total day, it was the No. 3 network in total viewers and slid from the No. 5 to the No. 7 position in the demo. 

CNN averaged 766,000 total primetime viewers and 162,000 A25-54 viewers during primetime for drops of -21% and -28% compared to the previous week. In total day, the network had 558,000 total viewers and 108,000 viewers in the demo. That split the difference, as CNN dipped -2% in the former category, but ticked up by +4% in the latter.

CNN landed in sixth place in primetime with total viewers and moved down two spots to No. 9 in the primetime demo. It held onto fourth and sixth place in total day viewers and the total day demo, respectively. 

Fox News occupied 12 of the 15 spots of the most-watched cable news shows of the week, with The Five (3.573 million viewers at 5 p.m. ET) leaping over Jesse Watters Primetime to take the top spot. MSNBC occupied the remaining spots, with Deadline: White House with Nicole Wallace (1.666 million viewers at 5 p.m. ET) landing at No. 13.

Jesse Watters Primetime (389,000 viewers at 8 p.m. ET) remained the top show in the Adults 25-54 demo. Fox News had 13 out of the 15 top shows in the demo, with CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 (211,000 viewers at 8 p.m. ET) landing in the No. 14 spot.

For the week, The Five averaged 3.6 million viewers and 361,000 in the 25-54 demo. At 6 PM/ET, Special Report with Bret Baier drew 2.6 million viewers and 275,000 in the 25-54 demo. The Ingraham Angle saw 2.7 million viewers and 313,000 in the 25-54 demo at 7 PM/ET. 

• At 8 PM/ET, Jesse Watters Primetime delivered 3.3 million viewers and 389,000 in the 25-54 demo, making it the top show in all of primetime across the board. At 9 PM/ET, Hannity posted 2.8 million viewers and 334,000 with A25-54. At 11 PM/ET, FOX News @ Night secured 1.5 million viewers and 225,000 in the 25-54 demo.
• FOX News Channel’s Gutfeld! averaged 2.9 million viewers and 373,000 in the 25-54 demo, topping ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! (1.8 million P2+; 312,000 A25-54) and NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon (1.2 million P2+; 315,000 A25-54), NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers (865,000 P2+ and 218,000 A25-54), HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher (668,000 P2+ and 104,000 A25-54) and Comedy Central’s The Daily Show (521,000 P2+ and 124,000 A25-54).
• FNC also excelled across daytime, occupying the highest rated programs among every hour. Kicking off with America’s Newsroom with Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino (weekdays, 9-11 AM/ET) scoring 1,914,000 P2+ and 224,000 in the 25-54 demo. At 11 AM/ET Harris Faulkner’s The Faulkner Focus (weekdays, 11 AM/ET) also notched 1,914,000 P2+ and 239,000 25-54 demo and Outnumbered (weekdays, 12 PM/ET) saw 2,094,000 P2+ and 266,000 25-54. From 1-3 PM/ET America Reports delivered 1,795,000 P2+ and 219,000 followed by Martha MacCallum’s The Story (weekdays, 3 PM/ET) with 1,809,000 total viewers and 226,000 25-54. At 4 PM/ET, Your World with Neil Cavuto drew 1,840,000 P2+ and 231,000 A25-54.

Source: Nielsen. Live+SD. Week of 10-7-24 ratings data. Average audience for cable news networks Monday-Sunday based on Total Day and Prime (6a-6a, 8P-11P), P2+, P25-54, P18-49. Cable News/Broadcast Program averages exclude repeats and include the corresponding program name.

📺BROADCAST EVENING NEWS:

“World News Tonight with David Muir” ranked as the No. 1 evening newscast in all of broadcast and cable in Total Viewers (7.453 million), Adults 25-54 (1.087 million) and Adults 18-49 (749,000) during the week of Oct. 7, 2024, based on Live + Same Day Data from Nielsen Media Research. Muir anchored special editions of “World News Tonight” on Wednesday (10/9/2024) and Thursday (10/10/2024), reporting from Hurricane Milton’s storm zone in Florida.

• “World News Tonight” outdelivered “NBC Nightly News” (5.936 million, 935,000 and 607,000, respectively) by 1.517 million Total Viewers, by 152,000 Adults 25-54 and by 142,000 Adults 18-49, respectively.
• “World News Tonight” increased its advantage over “NBC Nightly News” from the previous week in Total Viewers (+9% – 1.517 million vs. 1.387 million), Adults 25-54 (+20% – 152,000 vs. 127,000) and Adults 18-49 (+19% – 142,000 vs. 119,000).
• “World News Tonight” widened its year-to-year lead over “NBC Nightly News” in Total Viewers (+84% – 1.517 million vs. 824,000) and Adults 25-54 (+15100% – 151,000 vs. 1,000).
• On Thursday (10/10/24), “World News Tonight” scored its largest single-day margin over “NBC Nightly News” in Total Viewers (+2.072 million – 7.736 million vs. 5.664 million) in 14 months — since 8/15/23.

• For the week, “World News Tonight” (7.453 million, 1.087 million and 749,000, respectively) defeated “CBS Evening News” (4.485 million, 630,000 and 439,000, respectively) by 2.968 million Total Viewers, by 457,000 Adults 25-54 and by 310,000 Adults 18-49.

📺TELEVISION SHOW RATINGS RANKER

Ranking is based on ratings data as of Friday, October 11, 2024. The audience figures are derived from the latest Nielsen daily, weekly, or monthly P2+ program audience averages, whichever is the most recently available within the past seven-day window.